Jim Bogart: Ag needs immigration laws reformed

Jim Bogart at the Grower Shipper office in Salinas. This is an updated mug shot. do not use the old one!

The time has come for comprehensive and meaningful reform of our nation's immigration laws. In fact, it is long overdue.

The current law is a mess. It is outdated, unworkable and broken beyond repair. Most notably, it is devastating to agriculture.

Our farmers face a critical shortage of legally authorized and experienced workers, which negatively impacts our economic competitiveness, local economics and jobs. Every farm worker engaged in high-value, labor-intensive crop production sustains two to three off-farm but farm dependent jobs. We cannot continue allowing foreign producers to take advantage of our labor crisis.

Last month, the U.S. Senate passed S.744, a comprehensive immigration reform bill that both the agriculture industry and farm labor unions support.

The legislation passed by the Senate addresses agriculture's needs in the following critical ways:

Current Workforce

In order to minimize the impact on current economic activity, S.744 provides an adjustment of status for experienced, but unauthorized, agricultural workers who currently reside in the U.S. this adjustment includes the following components:

? These workers have a future obligation to work for a number of days annually in agriculture for several years.

? Upon completion of this future work obligation, the workers could obtain permanent legal status and the right to work in whatever industries they choose, including agriculture.

Agricultural Worker Program

The Agricultural Worker Visa Program will ensure agriculture's future legal workforce. This new program offers both employer and employee choice and flexibility through two different work options: an "At-Will" visa and a Contract visa. These three-year visas would be valid for employment with agriculture employers registered through the USDA and are separate from the low-skilled visas for the general business community.

? "At-Will" Visa employees have the freedom to move from employer to employer without any contractual commitment, replicating the way market forces allocate the labor force now.

? Contract Visa employees commit to work for an employer for a fixed period of time, giving both parties increased stability where it is mutually preferred.

I am often asked the following questions regarding the Senate immigration reform bill:

Is this "amnesty?"

? No. Farm workers could apply for a legal status only after proving that they have worked in agriculture for years, paid taxes, kept out of trouble and paid a fine. This hardly lets anyone off the hook.

? At the same time, farmers need to be able to keep their experienced workers - their trustworthy, right-hand men and women who have worked for them for years and know how to get the work on the farm done.

? The reality is that a large percentage of farm workers are in the U.S. illegally, largely because Congress has failed to fix the shortcomings of the existing agricultural worker program. It's time to deal with that reality. S.744 offers a tough but fair solution for these workers and the farmers who rely on them. An important part of this legislation is verification that workers who get agricultural visas are, in fact, working in agriculture. We believe enforcement is an important part of the solution, both for farmers and for America workers.

Is E-Verify the solution?

? E-Verify is a federal, online system to determine workers' authorization to work in the U.S. That seems like a good idea, and it is?if there are legal and sensible ways for enough workers to enter the U.S. and work on farms. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Without a solution to that problem, simply cracking down on unauthorized workers leaves farmers holding the burlap bag.

? If agriculture has a workable visa program, E-Verify can work as an enforcement mechanism. We are not opposed to E-Verify, as long as farmers have access to a stable supply of workers. Access and enforcement must go hand-in-hand.

Foreign vs. U.S. workers

? In fact, it's the opposite. Immigrant workers take jobs that Americans don't want. Agricultural work is hard, seasonal and often transitory. Most American workers are unwilling to take these jobs. Therefore, we have come to rely on an immigrant labor force.

? Without immigrant workers, U.S. economic output would decline. Each of the 1.6 million hired farm employees working on American farms and ranches supports two to three full-time jobs further down the value chain in food processing, transportation, farm equipment, marketing and retail and other sectors. Without farm workers, thousands of U.S. workers who do have jobs - on farms, in food processing plants and in other occupations thanks to the output that immigrant workers produce - would lose those jobs.

Let's get this done now. The time for political posturing, ideological demagoguery and emotional ranting is over.

I urge readers to contact their legislators and voice their support for comprehensive immigration reform. Tell them that doing nothing is not an option.

Jim Bogart is president and chief counsel of the Grower Shipper Association of Central California.

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Jim Bogart: Ag needs immigration laws reformed

The time has come for comprehensive and meaningful reform of our nation's immigration laws. In fact, it is long overdue.